Bob's widow told Hoda Kotb on "Today" she felt she'd finally reached a point where she was all cried out about her husband's sudden death -- and yet, moments later she broke down talking about how deeply Bob loved her and everyone in his life.

Kelly sobbed as she recalled his routine during road trips -- "Every time he would be out of town he would always try to ... he would work so hard, and he loved to sleep in, but when he was away, he would still go to bed at 2 and wake up at 4" to ensure he could get home on the first flight.

As we've reported, that's exactly what Bob intended to do after checking into the Ritz-Carlton around 2 AM on January 9. He was scheduled to fly home to Kelly early that Sunday, but when Kelly didn't hear from him, she notified the hotel ... and a staffer found him unresponsive around 4 PM.

We know Bob had spoken to Kelly after his final show, Saturday night in Jacksonville. She says, "It was all 'I love you so much.' I think I said, 'I love you dearly,' and then he said, 'I love you endlessly,' and then I said, 'I can't wait to see you tomorrow.' It was just all love."

Kelly told Hoda that final convo is pretty much how they always spoke to each other -- she says Bob was all about loving the people in his life, and letting them know about it.

In fact, she says she marveled at how he found the time to talk to everyone and tell everybody that he loved them ... all the time. When you see Kelly talking about Bob and how deeply he cared about his friends, it's easy to understand the outpouring of love we've seen for him since his death.